Overview

• Prosecutors dropped charges on 15 September against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, who denied passing sensitive information to a Chinese agent under the 1911 Official Secrets Act.
• In a letter to MPs, DPP Stephen Parkinson said months of requests failed to secure statements that China was a threat during the alleged period of December 2021 to February 2023, so the case could not proceed.
• Downing Street denies interference and argues any evidence had to reflect the then-Conservative government’s policy describing China as a challenge rather than an enemy or threat.
• A 2024 High Court judgment (R v Roussev) clarified that an ‘enemy’ under the 1911 Act must be a state posing a threat at the time of the offence; parts of that Act have since been superseded by the 2023 National Security Act’s ‘foreign power’ framework.
• No. 10 says National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell will answer questions in private before MPs, as cross-party pressure grows for explanations and the CPS maintains its April 2024 charging decision was correct under the law at the time.